


Wrapped in Silver and Cold

by holyroller



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, High Chaos!Emily, Low Chaos!Everything Else, M/M, Mute!Corvo - Freeform, Nonbinary Character, Other, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-30 18:15:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8543884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holyroller/pseuds/holyroller
Summary: /// Spoilers for Dishonored 2 up ahead!! ///Now knowing that Daud knows of the threat that Delilah is, Corvo makes his way to Serkonos, not only to investigate the Crown Killer, but to also find out what he can about the woman now claiming the throne. Signing himself up for a war just kind of happened by itself.





	1. If Destiny Is Kind

**Author's Note:**

> With Dishonored 2 ending the way it did and Bethesda actually doing right by me and my children the whalers, I had to come up with something. I literally cried at the last line in the game, ah. 
> 
> Anyway, there's no beta for this, per usual, and it's written in the dead of night so feel free to let me know of any mistakes. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

Corvo Attano was always a man of cold calculations. His time away from Dunwall had made sure of that. There was seldom a move he made without knowing how things would generally turn out. From the short time they spent together, there was little another cold and calculating man like Daud come come to expect from Corvo in terms of spontaneity. Frankly, he never expected to see Corvo ever again after that day in the flooded district.

Except that Corvo had come to Serkonos.

The Whalers had been looking out for the murders of the Crown Killer but their leads were always inconclusive. Daud kept an eye out because for all he knew, this was another player in the game he and Corvo had played nearly two decades ago. It had almost been laughable at the time as he imagined another Serkonan street rat with the mark of the Outsider. But now that word had come in that the royal protector was once again dishonored, his daughter nowhere to be seen, again, Daud knew it was just a matter of time before their paths crossed yet again. Whether it be because of location or because the void was unforgivingly patronizing, he didn’t know.

Except that they didn’t. He’d gone to investigate a trail that, according to Rinaldo, would lead to more things on the Crown Killer. A solid lead that did in fact lead Daud to a possible location, a hideout perhaps. Throughout all of this the royal protector was nowhere to be seen.

Daud returned to the apartment building the whalers currently occupied and had almost made it up to the top floor, the floor with rooms reserved for himself and Thomas only when a whaler transverses in front of him. There’s hesitation in his step. Daud would be a blind man if he didn’t know who his whalers were beneath the masks at this point. The fact that he was still wearing the gas mask was a red flag on its own.

“Yes, Aedan?” Daud finally says after a moment. He’s tired and if they’ve uncovered something in regards to the murders, it’s important and he needs to know now.

“There’s someone here for you,” is all Aedan says before transversing away. Daud frowns, his first instinct is that it’s Corvo. But that would almost be impossible. The apartment building was actually under Billie Lurk’s real name.

Daud wouldn’t tell anyone but he’d hoped she’d catch word of it somehow. That way she’d know that she’d have a place to come home to near the docks in Karnaca whether he and the whalers were there or not. It had been a sentimental move that none of the whalers would let him live down should they find out, but it felt right at the time. He didn’t blame her for what had happened with Delilah. She ran into a being of higher power who had shown her what seemed like a path to greatness. Daud would be a liar if he said he hadn’t heard that story before. It hurt to remember her and the familiarity he’d shared with her that was killed along with the other whalers he’d found after she’d disappeared.

Still, the deed to the building was under Billie’s name, so there was no way Corvo had found them through legal means. Which left to wonder if he’d run into a whaler, which was possible given Corvo’s own skill but why follow them? Daud shakes his head and makes his way downstairs, a feeling in his chest telling him it was Corvo.

Proven right, Daud walks out from the staircase to the back of a man sitting in a chair. The heavy coat is gone, making Corvo look slightly slimmer. And his hair is gone, it’s become a short mess atop his head instead of around it. Whalers stand around him, some masked, some unmasked. In unison they all turn to look at Daud as he enters the living space. Corvo moves to remove his mask and Daud watches some of his whalers become uncomfortable at the gesture.

When Corvo turns, the man looks that much older. The weight of the loss of not one but two empresses clear on his face and in his eyes. A rage burns in them that Daud imagines was in them back in the financial district.

“Do you need something, lord protector?” Daud asks.

Corvo gestures to Marco, also unmasked, and Marco hands Corvo a sheet of paper. Corvo hands it over to Daud. It’s a letter with the logo of a printing press at the top right corner.

_All Print Staff on Duty,_

_Due to these unforeseen circumstances, on orders from Empress_  
_Delilah Kaldwin herself, Duke Abele has requested the bounty placed_  
_on the former lord protector, Corvo Attano, be raised to match_  
_that of Dunwall’s most wanted criminals. Please make sure the number_  
_advertised is changed accordingly._

A number of flags go off in Daud’s head. He only knew of one Delilah, who had coincidentally also wanted to ascend to Emily Kaldwin’s throne. But she was trapped inside a painting in the void, Daud had made sure of it. And whoever this other Delilah was, Kaldwin? Did Emily have another family member? Then came the Duke’s name, what was he doing with the current Empress?

Daud looks up and Corvo takes the letter from his hand. Daud watches Corvo flip the letter over and pull a pen from a compartment in his belt. He scratches at the page atop of a small table before handing it back to Daud.

_They have Emily._

That answered none of Daud’s questions and in fact raised more. Corvo takes back the page and scratches again. Corvo takes longer and Daud looks over Corvo’s shoulder and reads his words as Corvo writes them.

_A mutual friend told me you know Delilah._

“Copperspoon?” Daud asks. Corvo continues writing.

_She calls herself Kaldwin now._

A bit of rage sets itself in Daud’s stomach. He hadn’t imprisoned Delilah for Emily’s sake, more for his own in a fruitless attempt to make right for the murder of the empress. And in return for this he lost Billie. Knowing that he’d lost so much while Delilah had managed to escape and do what she’d meant to do set something in motion inside of him.

“Yes, I know Delilah,” Daud replies. Corvo looks up to meet his eyes and Daud continues, “a witch bent on switching places with Emily fifteen years ago. I trapped her in a painting in the void before she could perform her final ritual.”

Corvo stares at Daud for nearly a minute and then turns to write again.

_How did you trap her?_

“It was a matter of sabotaging a ritual she was going to perform. I doubt she’ll be trying the same one,” Daud crosses his arms.

_Weaknesses? Associates? Hideouts?_

Daud frowns. He thinks back for a moment, “All of your weaponry will work on her if she’s the same way I left her.”

Corvo now frowns. Daud nods, “she may have brought something back from the void with her. Something moving her closer to the Outsider than to us.”

Now Corvo nods. He gestures to the page again. Daud shakes his head.

“The best clue I can give you right now is the Duke of Serkonos. But I’m sure you knew that. And Bridgemore manor is now housing some other royal family, so I can’t say I know where some of her coven may be hiding. Don’t underestimate her. Above her magic, Delilah’s willpower is her greatest strength.”

Corvo nods again and scratches a final set of words onto the page before standing and putting his mask over his face.

_Thank you._

Daud doesn’t think he gave Corvo anything of worth, but he nods nonetheless. They all watch as Corvo makes his way out of the room, and remain motionless until they hear the front door click shut.

Quinn takes the few steps towards the doorway and peers out before coming back inside, “what the hell was that?” he asks.

“Corvo Attano came to us for help,” Galia replies. There’s a bit of disbelief in her voice.

“He came to Daud for help,” Thomas corrects.

“It’s strange all the same,” Aleks confirms.

Daud doesn’t hear the remainder of the whalers’ conversation. He’s up on the rooftops, following Corvo to wherever it is he may be going. There’s a curiosity now sparked in him that’s fueled by the offense he takes to having lost someone he cared about to Delilah while she’s getting what she wants. He wants to know who Corvo knows.

He follows the royal protector until they reach the docks. A woman with short hair greets him and Daud transverses down to the street to listen to the conversation.

“Any news from your informant?” the woman asks. Something in Daud’s chest sinks. But it couldn’t be. It’d be too much of a coincidence.

Corvo grunts and she sighs, “the Addermire Institute will probably have more answers.”

The Addermire Institute, now there was somewhere that seemed promising. Daud had heard of the current conditions of the place. He peers over and watches as the woman boards the small boat at the docks. He ducks behind a building when Corvo turns to look exactly in his direction.

“ _You_ were followed?” the woman asks in complete disbelief. The feeling in Daud’s chest has heightened. He knows. He saw her face. He’s just not going to admit it to himself. It’s some nameless woman he doesn’t know, who’s lost one of her arms and one of her eyes. It doesn’t involve the fact that she was led astray from the family she had. She’s nobody.

He waits for the sound of the boat’s motor before looking back out at the dock. Both Corvo and the woman are gone. Daud grunts to himself, scolding himself as he transverses back up to the top of the building for letting his own emotions get the better of him. Billie Lurk was gone and the fact that he’d rather pretend she ran off and is living comfortably elsewhere than accept the truth was pathetic.

Daud looks over the building before sighing and turning to make his way back to the apartment building. He’s begun to consider moving back to the vineyard. The whalers seemed to like it there. A memory of Thomas trying to make wine comes to mind as he collides into Corvo.

Of course, Daud thinks. He crosses his arms, “you can never be too careful, Lord Protector.”

Corvo stares at him for a moment and turns to the right. Daud sees the very small hint of confusion run through Corvo. The woman fled and he hadn’t been expecting that. The feeling in Daud’s chest sinks to his stomach.

Daud takes a step forward and gestures for Corvo to follow him. If old habits never changed, then he had an idea as to where to look. He takes Corvo down a few streets away, into Howler territory. Avoiding guards, they reach a dimly lit entrance with a few people standing outside of it. They’re rushed over to in a second. A pair of women with guns and a man with a knife surround them.

“I’d be careful with those,” Daud cautions. Corvo’s hand is already at the tip of his blade.

“Or what?” one of the women taunts, “you’re going to bore us to death? Ha! Get a grip, old man!”

Daud frowns and holds a hand out to hold off Corvo’s action. It takes him a second to transverse behind the group and take a hold of the two women’s heads and slam them into each other. The two fall to the ground and the man backs away slightly.

“I know you…,” he begins, “I saw you on some wanted posters! You’re the Knife of Dunwall! M’sorry—We’ll leave you alone.” He backs away and runs over to some others who’d been watching.

“Nice crowd,” Daud comments as he and Corvo step through the dimly lit entrance. It’s a tavern. There’s a small bar in the corner and other howlers watch them curiously as they make their way towards the woman in white sitting at the far left. She doesn’t see them come.

She jumps slightly when Corvo stands beside her.

“You scared me,” she says with a slight laugh as she shakes her head, “I thought I saw… a ghost. I took off, sorry.”

Daud lets go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding in and makes his way over to Billie’s other side, “I don’t think that’s the question on his mind,” he says as gently as he can muster.

Billie turns to him, her good eye widened slightly. She turns away quickly.

“It’s been a long time,” she comments. Daud nods.

“It has.”

A silence sets between them and Corvo clears his throat.

“We should get going,” Billie gestures to Corvo, “we have to find Sokolov, too.”

Corvo nods and Billie gets up. She makes her way out of the tavern and Corvo moves to follow but Daud extends his hand again.

“She was like my daughter,” Daud says in a low voice. It feels strange to say these things out loud, but he knows there’s no other way of beginning to convince Corvo.

“Her name is Billie Lurk. Or, at least that was the one she gave herself. She used to be my second in command. She was there the day your empress died.”

Corvo’s mask turns to him. Daud is sure the same rage from years before rages in his eyes.

“Delilah took her from us. Showed her a way to overthrow me, lead the whalers in ways I couldn’t. But she couldn’t do it in the end. She was to die at my hand. I’d never hurt her.”

Corvo doesn’t move. Daud takes it as a sign to continue, “Delilah corrupted her and after our final bout, she ran off. I thought she’d do what I did and find solace in old memories and things that used to amuse her. It seems she’s trying to find a way to right her wrongs. Know that she’s devoted to your cause. Billie was nothing short of excellence.”

His voice cracks at the last word and Daud takes that as a sign that he should stop speaking. He takes a slight breath and finishes.

“So my proposition to you now is this, Lord Protector. I’m going after Delilah. My men have faced you before and I can assure you that they don’t want to be on the other end of your blade. I ask for a treaty between us. We’re on the same side. We won’t interfere with you and your daughter. Find Emily and make her safe again, but Delilah and I have a past that I need to reconcile.”

Corvo doesn’t move for a second. Daud opens his mouth to speak again when Corvo shakes his head. A no. The rage that had been pooling at the pit of his stomach rises to his eyes and he’s going to threaten Corvo when the page and pen from earlier appear from Corvo’s belt compartments. Corvo scratches at the page again.

_Let’s go._

It’s then that Corvo turns to leave.

Daud follows and nearly collides with Corvo outside of the tavern. Corvo’s scratched something onto the back of the page again. He folds the page in half and hands it to Daud. He unfolds the page and reads down past Corvo’s other notes to the one he hasn’t read yet.

_12 hours._

When he looks up, Corvo’s disappeared. Daud can only assume that the timeframe is for Corvo’s return. Regardless, he’s going to ready his whalers and if Corvo isn’t back by then, they’re heading to the Institute. When he returns, he finds the whalers inside the living space again but this time they’re relaxed. Thomas fiddles with an alarm clock on a small sofa while Galia and Aleks sit at his feet playing a game of Nancy. Quinn’s reading a pamphlet while Rinaldo and Marco sip on wine across from them.

With a simple gesture and some help from the Void, Daud’s summoned Aedan. The other whalers give him their full attention.

“We leave for the Addermire Institute in 12 hours. There’s no telling if any of us will make it back and if things go well, we should have some help, but I’m not promising you anything. Rest up and pack what you may need.”

“Sir,” Thomas confirms as he and the whalers file out behind Daud. He overhears Galia ask what’s happening at the Addermire Institute. Marco whispers something about the Crown Killer.

Daud retreats to his own room on the top floor and sits on his bed for a moment. Years of letting Billie drift to the back of his mind, letting himself forget her have just dawned upon him like a sunrise on the ocean. Revealing all the emotions he’d denied himself after her departure. He buries his face in his hands, squeezing his eyes tight, not allowing his emotions to get the better of him.

He was familiar with all his whalers. Thomas liked to tell him about what had happened throughout his day and for some reason Aedan always wanted to share new jokes he’d heard. The other whalers treated Daud like a familiar figure, but to a certain extent. None of them took the liberties Billie had. Billie would walk into his quarters, his office, anything, like they were hers. The fierce look in her eyes, one she learned from him, daring him to challenge her. He never did. She made him proud.

Now he found Billie. Life had taken more than it should have from her. Her face, aged with the most grace he’d ever seen, still more tired than she deserved to be. Billie didn’t deserve this. Delilah did this to her the same way Daud allowed Delilah to have a chance at the throne. He was going to right that wrong, even if it meant working with Corvo Attano.

Daud doesn’t get much sleep that night. He’s still up before any of the other whalers. He sits down with a coffee and a piece of bread in the living space as the alarm he’d set on a clock ticks away. Thomas trails down next, a small bag on his back.

“Sir,” Thomas begins, serving himself a coffee as well, “I’ve left a note. Should—should something happen I’ve left instructions on how it should be delivered.”

“You know where mine is,” Daud replies with a nod. It was a small procedure they’d go through every mission. Daud had certain things he’d like to go to Dunwall tower, as mementos if anything. A journal documenting the planning and thought that had gone into Jessamine’s death. Then the audiographs of what happened to Delilah. Things Daud thought Corvo would want to see. Daud even had Delilah’s painting of him.

Daud knew Thomas had closer contacts. Should something happen to his second in command, he’d make sure his wishes were honoured. Daud was also aware of the other whalers’ notes, but only Thomas and Marco knew of his.

Marco comes down next, followed by Galia, Aleks, Rinaldo, and finally Quinn and Aedan. They all have some form of breakfast and sit around the living space until the silence becomes too awkward.

“Why are we waiting?” Aedan asks.

“What are we waiting for?” Galia asks.

They watch Daud but he pays them no mind. He watches the alarm clock. It dings a minute later and Daud frowns. He moves to stand and talk to his whalers when there’s a knock on the door. Thomas is at the door in a second. Daud takes a step forward when he and the rest of the whalers hear Thomas’ surprised tone.

“Billie?”


	2. A Little Bit Older

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read, here's another chapter!

Corvo watches from behind the woman who’d introduced herself to him as Meagan Foster- now revealed to be Daud’s former second in command, Billie Lurk, at the expression on the other man’s face at the door. He looks surprised, relieved, and… something else Corvo can’t quite place. The other man stands aside after watching her for a few moments, allowing the others who’d come into the space to get a look at her. When Daud comes into view, he meets Corvo’s gaze. An unreadable expression on his face.

The former assassin’s eyes look down at Billie, growing soft in a second despite the stern look on his face.

Corvo takes that time to leave. He blinks up to a nearby rooftop and makes his way back to the small boat. It would take several trips to get all of them onto the Dreadful Whale and he didn’t want to be one of the last to get on the boat. And more importantly, the look on the youngers’ faces and the look in Daud’s eyes was more than enough to warrant a moment alone. 

As they had headed to the Addermire Institute, Billie had explained what her involvement had been in Jessamine’s murder and her relation to the former assassin. It had caused Corvo to realize that there was the possibility that Daud was capable of real emotion. Billie knew of Daud’s faults and was the first to criticize them, but that didn’t change the way her voice boomed with pride when she talked about his resourcefulness, his cunning.

Corvo was much older now. The pain of having lost Jessamine was still always on his mind and every year he and Emily would take her birthday as a day to venture up the Wrenhaven where they could have a real moment in private. Every year Emily would write her mother a letter she burned on their boat. 

There was no one who felt the loss more than Emily. And as she got older, as she learned from him, it began to manifest in ways Corvo feared she couldn’t control. Emily was ruthless in her behaviours. A stern calculating he supposes she must have picked up from watching her mother practise for meetings and then watching her die.

He also blames himself. When he’d come back to the Hound Pitts Pub, hands soaked in some blood he couldn’t avoid spilling. He hoped she’d try to forget the things she experienced during her time at the Hound Pitts Pub, but it seemed that while Jessamine’s murder and its effects hadn’t broken Corvo, it broke Emily in ways Corvo couldn’t help heal. 

It all seemed to change when Emily got romantically involved with someone. When Emily started seeing Wyman, he’d see glimpses of the woman Emily he thinks she should have been. When she laughed, her face glowed in a way it never did on the throne. It seemed only Wyman could elicit such an event. Emily was happy with them. And when she wasn’t, she was ruling with coldness or training with Corvo, laughing with the coldness contained in her eyes.

Emily’s current state was why Corvo had decided to reach out to the former assassin. He hoped that aside from the information Daud could provide, Corvo could find some form of closure for them. If he could somehow find a way to close the chapter no matter how much it pained him, for Emily’s sake, it would help not only them but the empire beneath her. 

He wasn’t entirely sure what that entailed, but he had an inkling it wouldn’t be good. Though, in his older age, that meant little to Corvo. Especially if it meant helping Emily. He would try for her. He sits inside the boat, upon reaching it. He fiddles with the heart for a moment, wondering what they could have avoided had Jessamine survived.

Billie and the rest of them arrive not much later. Corvo goes with Billie and Daud onto the ship. As they board, Corvo heads for his quarters immediately. He’s not going to hang around for any reunions. 

He lies in his cot for a few hours, dozing off every few minutes or so as he listens to the others board the ship. After his time in Coldrige prison, sleep came very slowly to Corvo, if at all. Even after all this time he’d still randomly wake up in a sweat, out of fear of what the day’s torture would hold only to realize he was in Dunwall Tower, years later. His mouth was still blackened in certain areas and the lump left in place of his tongue still disgusted Corvo to no end. He opted to not speak at all than make a fool of himself.

After admitting defeat, he stands up and stretches. They had to head to the Kirin Jindosh’s manor and rescue Anton Sokolov soon.

He steps out into the quiet boat, realizing immediately it was the dead of night. His steps are light and counted as he makes his way towards the sound of light murmuring coming from the ship’s main room. Corvo presses his ear to the door.

“You know I couldn’t go back,” Billie argues.

“Out of your own pride. I would have taken you back,” that’s Daud.

“You say that now. I doubt you would have then.”

“…what happened?”

“To?”

“Your eye.”

“It’s a long story. It went with my arm. I didn’t carry on with being an assassin, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay. Some others left after you did.”

“Who?”

“Hobson. Rulfio left after we found Akila’s corpse. Desmond and Pickford went with him.”

“I’m sorry.”

“We found Julian near the body of an overseer. We concluded that in a fit of panic at the effect of the music boxes, he stabbed himself.”

“By the void…”

There’s a pause and Corvo can hear the tension in Daud’s voice as he speaks.

“I’m sorry for bringing any of you into this life. None of them deserved what came to them. You didn’t deserve what I did to you.”

“Don’t make this about your need to brood about every single thing you do,” Billie snaps back immediately, “the empress I understand, but this? We all came to you in search of a better life. We wanted out of the terrible situation we were in. I practically begged you to take me away from the slums. You became the father figure I had just watched die of disease. Thomas was my confidant, everything to me. I practically raised Aleksander. This is about us finding a family, so don’t you dare make this about yourself.”

There’s a long pause before the man finally responds, “Billie…”

“I’m glad to know you’re okay, too.”

Corvo peers through one of the small windows and were he not staring at the two people closest to Jessamine’s murder, he may have smiled. Still, it dawned on him that the image he’d painted of the assassin as an unstoppable killing machine was wrong. He knew Daud was a professional, that he had his people ready to fight for him, but he’d never seen the man as more than a militant leader. Corvo would have never imagined there was any real depth beneath the ex-assassin’s cold glare.

He turns away then. If there was any more said it wasn’t for him to hear. They’d be reaching their destination soon enough. He heads back into the room set up for him and lies back down. Sleep, unsurprisingly, doesn’t come. He’s turned onto his side when a knock comes at his door.

“I’d say we’re even now, Lord Protector,” of course it was the ex-asssasin. Who else could it be?

Corvo sits up and makes his way to the door. Opening it, he gives the man a curious expression. He studies Daud’s expression, softened and definitely more relaxed than when they’d met in the apartment building. Corvo raises a hand to point at him. Corvo then forms his hands into a heart shape and holds it to his chest as he gives Daud a questioning look.

The ex-assasin’s expression hardens as he pieces together the different ways Corvo’s gestures could be interpreted. Eventually he seems to settle for one, as he looks at Corvo with an expression best described as curious anger.

“Did you just ask me if I have a heart?”

Intuitive man. Corvo nods.

Daud watches Corvo for a moment. Steel eyes scan him over, taking a question that could have been taken as light hearted very seriously. They both knew what Corvo was currently referring to, but also what other things Daud carried in his conscience; 

“It seems that sometimes I do,” he says before walking off. Corvo stands at the doorway for a minute, considering his situation. They were both so much older now. Too old, Corvo would argue. The lines appearing at the corner of Daud’s eyes hadn’t been as prominent as they were now and the bags under Corvo’s eyes hadn’t been either. Both of them shared the hardened eyes that came with tangling with the void. Their faces were evident enough that they’d both lived difficult lives. With a sigh, Corvo shuts the door and tries to go back to sleep.

When he gets up again, Billie and Daud are inside the main room, drinking coffee. He steps in and watches out of the corner of his eye as a whaler stops on the staircase leading to the upper deck. 

“Morning,” Billie takes the small pot from a burner and pours the liquid into another cup. Corvo nods and accepts it. Daud hasn’t looked up at him. He’s leafing through a stack of papers in front of him. Corvo takes a sip of the lukewarm coffee and watches as the remainder of the whalers begin to file in. He gets a look at all of their faces, putting them to memory so he could later associate them with names.

Daud looks up at Corvo when the last of his crew has entered.The whalers converse among themselves as Daud slides Corvo a map.

“Sokolov is here,” Daud says pointing at where Jindosh’s manor was marked with a red X, “but this is also a good time to get a look at Dunwall Tower.”

Corvo gives Daud a questioning look.

“I mean I want to do some recon,” Daud explains.

Corvo pulls the pen from his belt again and Daud slides him a sheet of paper.

_Emily is in the tower._

“Ah,” Daud purses his lips together and holds the pose for a moment before nodding to himself, “Lurk.”

Billie looks up at him from her coffee.

“Are you willing to take on an assignment?”

Her expressions softens at his question for a second before she shakes her head, “I’d do more harm than good.”

Daud frowns, “Recon?”

Billie shakes her head, “the bond severs when you’ve been away for too long.”

Daud’s eyes widen slightly. He looks off into the distance for a moment, as if considering something he hadn’t thought of before. He extends his arm slightly towards her, “we can find a way to get it back. The same ritual should work, shouldn’t it?”

Billie shakes her head for the third time, “I don’t want it back.”

Corvo manages to catch the exact second that Daud’s expression falls. It’s another thing he didn’t expect to see from the former assassin.

“I see,” he awkwardly holds up a paper and sets it back down in the same second. The remainder of the room’s inhabitants have gone silent. Billie makes her way out of the room and a whaler follows. Daud recovers and continues, “Quinn, you’ll be with me, doing recon while I get Lady Emily. Thomas, you’re with Attano, rescue Sokolov.”

Corvo holds out his hand in what is a more violent gesture than he intended it to be. He scratches at the paper with his pen as rapidly as he can.

_We’re miles away from Dunwall. And what do you mean while you get Emily?!_

“We’re headed for Dunwall,,” Daud looks at Corvo as if not understanding the lord protector’s confusion, “And I assume you’d like your daughter returned to you?”

Corvo’s expression falls as well. He scratches again.

_You and your crew are a tactical advantage we have over Delilah. She doesn’t know you’re involved. If this goes wrong she could get wind and we’d lose this element._

“Do you doubt me, Attano?” There’s a weight in Daud’s words that harbours both offense and absolute seriousness as his eyes attempt to bore into Corvo. Corvo stares back with the same intensity in his eyes. Daud was a professional, the best in his business. Nobody knew that better than Corvo. He scratches his next word hastily.

_No._

“Would you rather go for your empress?” Their train of thought momentarily aligned, Daud backs down, though his eyes still stare forward at Corvo, challenging him.

The whaler blinks back into the room, breaking the tension, “We’re as close as we can get,” he says before blinking away again. Corvo hastily writes his last sentence before pocketing his pen and walking out of the room, up towards the upper deck.

_Bring her back safely._

Corvo hears Daud address a man with tan skin and dark hair. He assumes that’s the Thomas that’s going to be accompanying him. He reaches the top of the deck and the man blinks next to him, still unmasked.

“Lord Corvo,” Thomas extends his hand. Corvo takes it, “I’m Thomas.” 

Thomas’ firm grip the first thing he notices. Corvo makes eye contact with the younger man and notes the same harsh marks of life on Thomas’ face. Still, the man’s bright brown eyes tell Corvo something else. There’s a look of satisfaction, a fire, Corvo would argue. Based on what he’d overheard the night before, Corvo knew who put it there.

Billie’s eyes told a story of tragedy, of a life that seemed to have no other possible ending. Thomas’, on the other hand, still seemed to keep hope for something greater if not more of the same. This was Daud’s legacy. The lives of the whalers were his doing despite what Billie thought. Knowing that Daud held remorse and was aware of the damage he may have done was a note Corvo would save for another time.

Billie walks over to them not too long after, a look of concern on her face.

“They’ve gone off with Rinaldo. He’ll bring the skiff back and then we’ll head back to Karnaca,” she gives Thomas a look Corvo can’t decipher before walking away.

“Neither of you think we should be in Dunwall,” Thomas comments offhandedly. Corvo gives him a look of casual surprise. He steps away. The last thing he wanted was to discuss opinions with an assassin. Thomas lets him go. 

He spends the remainder of his time back in his quarters. He spends his time remembering Jessamine, her manurisms. He saw none of those in Delilah, if they were sisters. Hours later, when a knock comes at his door, he still can’t phathom the idea of them being related. 

Thomas stands outside the door, hands crossed in front of him, “Lurk has the skiff. She’ll drop us off.”

Corvo nods and Thomas disappears. He remembers facing Daud’s crew before. They all seemed to have some of Daud’s own abilities. He wasn’t sure how it worked, but he recalled some of them having blink and the ability to stay in-real time when time was bent. Corvo heads up to the skiff, meeting both Thomas and Billie there.

He’d grown to like Billie in the time he’d known her as Meagan Foster, so the revelation of her having been one of the two assassins who took Emily from him that day on the gazeebo is still fighting against his first impression of her. As for Thomas, Corvo isn’t particularly excited to have one of Daud’s assassins by his side.

Thomas turns to look at him, the mask on his face making him seem much more ominous. His voice is distorted as he speaks, “Shall we depart, Lord Corvo?”

Corvo nods. Thomas steps aside and Corvo steps into the skiff first, with the other following after. The ride is mostly silent save for the occasional comment. When they reach the closest Billie can leave them at, Corvo steps off after Thomas, ready for whatever Jindosh has to throw at them.


End file.
